The Obamacare Ruling and Associated Hysteria

Many are upset about the Obamacare supreme court ruling, claiming that it paves the way for the government to force any type of purchase on its citizenry. The manosphere is no less shrill in its dire warnings. WF Price believes that it sets the stage for various future anti-male laws, such as a mandated extension of child support to age 26, or even a Rome-style bachelor tax. Are such concerns valid, or overblown?

Clearly, the purchase mandate is shaky from a legal perspective. I'm not sure I agree with Roberts' idea that it constitutes a "tax," either. In the case of healthcare, though, there really is no other way to spread out costs and keep them under control. Would you rather instead risk losing your house and life savings when you get sick?

It really depends on what your priorities are. If you're fine with a shaky system that allows insurers to jump out and leave you with a huge bill the moment you get sick, then, I suppose something like Obamacare is a bad idea. If, however, you want some semblance of normalcy and predictability in your health care costs (and health care period), then Obamacare is a good thing.

This "bloated bill," as WF Price puts it, has many good things in it. Things that honestly should have been implemented decades ago. Yes, there are (minor) aspects of it that grate on my manosphere sensibilities, such as the requirement to charge men and women exactly the same (women cosume more in health care costs.) But people with cancer cost more than the average person, and if we're going to flat-line costs for them, then we might as well do the same for women.

The requirement to cover kids up to age 26 helps young men who are struggling to find a job immensely.  The manosphere comments on this particualr aspect are extremely exapserating, but revealing, and warrant a dedicated post.

See Also
Health Care, the Lack thereof, and how it Impacts Young Men

The Status of Men Index and the Need for More Data in the Manosphere

I've long had a link to the Status of Men Index in my sidebar. It's a tabular ranking showing how various countries match up based on various statistics, such as how well educated men are, how their life expectancy matches up to women, what the rate of divorce is, and the like. Countries are given ratings based on these statistics, as well as a cumulative rating (the soMENi, or Status of Men Index). Countries with a higher soMENi are, at least in theory, better places for men to live. Based on 2009 data (the last time the index was compiled), the following countries rank in the top 10:

1. Ecuador
2. Qatar
3. Netherlands
4. Peru
5. Kuwait
6. South Korea
7. Nicaragua
8. Singapore
9. Japan
10. Turkey

The countries that do the worst:

72. Saint Lucia
73. Kyrgyzstan
74. Ukraine
75. Kazakhstan
76. Moldova
77. Latvia
78. Estonia
79. Lithuania
80. Russia
81. Belarus

The US ranks #52, closer to the bottom of the list than the top. Keep in mind, of course, that this rating system isn't perfect - it doesn't, for instance, measure the subjective treatment of men, which is questionable in some of those top ten countries. Many countries aren't fully measured (most have at least 7/10 attributes measured), nor are many third world countries included, due to the lack of data.

Attributes like physical longevity, divorce likelihood, and suicide likelihood are important objective indicators for measuring the quality of a man's life, and are reasonably well-recorded in this index. Sure, there are lots of gaps, but I think it's a good general gauge of where countries lie, or is at least a start.

It's unfortunate that more effort isn't put into compiling lists like this. One of the areas the manosphere is deficient in, in my opinion, is data-driven statistical support of arguments, as well as the use of data to see where men stand, period. Men's rights bloggers are good at elucidating many of the issues, but there needs to be a more readily-available backup of arguments with data. Dalrock is good at this, but off the top of my head, I can't think of anybody else. Of course one recognizes the problem with "official" statistics in these matters, as A Voice for Men and Pierce Harlan's False Rape Society point out.

I urge everyone who comes here to visit the Status of Men Index (soMENi) site. You can sort the countries by various categories and where they stand on them. The guy who compiled it seems to recognize the problems with the incompleteness in the data, as well as the need for additional categories, and is calling for help. Help him out!

Also, the site has a good list of male-friendly airlines (airlines that allow men to sit next to children.)